This passion blog post will focus on another awesome event that is occurring in Penn State. Although this event focuses on Chinese tea and my passion blog is about Japan and all things Japanese, I decided to write about this because this organization truly makes me feel connected to my culture. Even though it focuses a lot on Chinese tea brewing methods, it still makes me feel close to Japan because brewing tea is valued in most all Asian countries. The Tea Institute also teaches Japanese and Korean tea brewing methods as well as Chinese. Regardless, the Penn State Tea Club and Tea Institute will be holding events all weekend with a world renowned Tea Master from Taiwan. His name is Tea Master Teaparker, and he will be bringing amazing and delicious teas with him that you are able to try if you attend. You may also learn how to brew tea the traditional Chinese way. On the right side is a flyer with a schedule of events for the weekend. I highly encourage people to attend as this is a very rare and special opportunity for anyone that enjoys tea. All the members in the Tea Institute are very welcoming, and we definitely want more people to appreciate tea and understand the history and culture behind it. The world of tea is very large and fascinating, and I think anyone who enjoys drinking tea will have a nice time at any of these events.
The Yixing Teapot Exhibition will definitely be an interesting event. Yixing is a type of clay that has all been mined, but the properties of the clay make it perfect for Chinese teapots. This makes the teapots incredibly valuable (easily $500 to $1000), and only very skilled people are able to make authentic yixing tea pots. There are different types of yixing pots, but all of them are incredibly valuable. On the left is a picture of a very common type of yixing tea pot, and there are several small differences to be able to tell an authentic one from a fake one. Additionally, duing these events, audience members are able to practice brewing in yixing teapots, so if you are interested, this may be your place to learn. If not, you are still able to attend and enjoy excellent tea.
The lectures are mostly done by Tea Master Teaparker. He will speak about the history, certain styles and designs of the tea pot, and do several demonstrations. Overall, it’s definitely going to be interesting, informative, and you will probably get to delicious tea, so I hope you will come!
Being an institute member, I attended most of the events this weekend and it really was an amazing opportunity. Teaparker is a really cool person. He communicates his expertise well, and is enlightening without seeming pretentious. Additionally, the few times I had the opportunity to brew for him, he managed to instill a sense of focus in me rather than seeming intimidating. Finally, he was actually really funny! I learned so much about tea this weekend — especially how much I don’t know yet 🙂
Until I came to Penn State, I did not know too much about tea and would not think too much of it. My parents were big into tea and coffee, but I only recently started to get into drinking it when college started. I have seen this event being advertised throughout the campus, but I have not thought too much about it until I read this post. I thought it was really informative and I like how you talked about the importance of tea in Asian cultures.
I had very little knowledge of tea before I came here, because I come from a family of coffee drinkers (though I’m not really much of a coffee person myself). But once I settled in and got to know my roommate, I learned that tea is actually a passion of hers. Not only does she have a very sizeable collection of teas that she drinks from often, but she also is very informed about tea and its history. I’ve seen flyers for this event around, and it definitely seems like a cool opportunity for anyone who loves tea! Also, I didn’t know there was a tea club, I think I’ll tell my roommate about it cause I’m sure she’d love to join!